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As Major League Baseball nears the end of its regular season, some of its biggest stars are putting the definition of valuable to the test. Should someone win the most valuable player award if he plays defense poorly? What if he doesn't play defense at all? NPR's Becky Sullivan takes a swing at the MVP debate.
BECKY SULLIVAN, BYLINE: Baseball has a lot of unwritten rules. One of them - guys who are only designated hitters can't win MVP. It's literally never happened. Voters have always gone for someone who plays in the field, too, or pitches. Now Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers is putting that to its biggest test ever.
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JOE DAVIS: On a one-two, Ohtani sends one in the air - the other way. Back it goes.
SULLIVAN: Ohtani is known for his skill as a pitcher and a batter, which has twice won him MVP. This year, though, he's been recovering from surgery to his pitching elbow, so he hasn't pitched at all. He's only batted. But what a batter he has been. He's the first ever to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in the same season.
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DAVIS: One-of-a-kind player, one-of-a-kind season. Shohei Ohtani starts the 50-50 club.
SULLIVAN: That kind of history could be enough. When it comes to how much value a player offers his team, there's a statistic for that. It's called WAR, or wins above replacement.
MEG ROWLEY: So it is meant to encompass everything that a player is doing to contribute positively to his team.
SULLIVAN: This is Meg Rowley of the baseball site FanGraphs, which has its own WAR leaderboard.
ROWLEY: It takes into account his offensive production as well as his defensive production.
SULLIVAN: Ohtani has a lead of nine-tenths of a win over the next closest National League player. The American League is even tighter. Only half a win separates the top two guys.
ROWLEY: So if you have players who are separated by fractions of a win, if you're an MVP voter, if you're a fan, you should think of those players as having contributed basically the same amount of value to their team.
SULLIVAN: So it's up to voters to choose what matters most. In the American League, the favorite for MVP is Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees. He's hit 56 homers and batted in almost 140 runs, far more than anyone else, but his defensive game - not so good. His season at center field has been frankly mediocre. So just behind him is a very different MVP candidate, Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: The shortstop, No. 7, Bobby Witt Jr.
SULLIVAN: It's been a breakout season for Witt. He's hit 32 home runs - a lot less than Judge, but he's stolen more bases and has the league's best batting average. Most intriguing, Witt has played better defense, and he's done it at shortstop, one of the toughest positions.
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SULLIVAN: The baseball journalists who vote for MVP are very tight-lipped about what they're thinking. So instead, I asked some totally unbiased Royals fans what they thought.
JOHN GARCIA: It's probably going to end up going to Judge 'cause he plays in the bigger market. He's got all the home runs. Bobby's got better stats, better all-around player.
SULLIVAN: This is John Garcia, who lives in KC. Historically, MVP voters have often broken these ties by choosing the player from the better team. Garcia says maybe it should be the opposite.
GARCIA: Without Bobby on this team, this team is probably barreling towards 95-plus losses.
SULLIVAN: Instead, the Royals are in the mix for the playoffs for the first time in almost a decade. Meanwhile, Aaron Judge's Yankees have the best record in the AL. The Dodgers and Ohtani have locked in their playoff berth, too. No matter who wins, Meg Rowley of FanGraphs says this has been a very satisfying MVP race.
ROWLEY: This year we get to appreciate the different ways in which these guys are contributing to their teams, and I think that's really exciting.
SULLIVAN: Votes are due next week. The winners will be announced after the World Series. Becky Sullivan, NPR News, Kansas City.
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